Jen's Journal: January 2010

TEETH!!! It is official...Nolan is teething. We noticed earlier this week that Nolan had a little, sharp, white speck poking through his bottom gum. Kevin discovered this when Nolan pulled Kevin's finger into his mouth and chomped down. After seeing it with my own eyes I later felt it myself while nursing (ouch!!)....and the next day we noticed that it wasn't just one tooth making it's way out but two. They have not pushed all the way out but they are definitely there and he is chomping away...on EVERYTHING!!! He seems to be handling it pretty well...a little extra whining but he also has a stuffed nose making it difficult to breath and a horrible old man's cough.

In other updates we have begun experimenting with solid foods. At Nolan's 4 month appointment his doctor said we could begin on baby foods. We have mainly been sticking to rice cereal (which he seems to think is ok..especially if mixed with breast milk), but have also tried carrots a few times. I think we will continue working with the rice cereal for now and start more with the baby foods over the next month or so.

He still isn't sleeping well...wakes every 2-3 hours...4 hours if we are really lucky. My mom talked with a lactation consultant she knows who told her that Nolan is what they call a "reversed eater or feeder" which basically means that he doesn't eat much during the day (mom isn't around...) and then eats all night (because mom is there). She said he will probably grow-up to be a persistent guy who knows what he wants...sound like anyone? haha He is his father's son! :) So for now I guess it means frequent waking and feeding during the night....I'm not sure how long we should expect this to go on....or how long I can keep going on being so sleep deprived....

Overall the little man is doing quite well and we are enjoying him more and more each day. It is a joy to see him changing and doing new things each day. I was just telling Kevin this morning that I can't believe that in just over a week Nolan will be 5 months old...didn't he just turn 4 months?!?!

I don't have any new pictures on this computer so will have to post some in a later post.

Wow! A lot has happened since my last post...especially since my last post on Nolan. I'm going to start with Christmas and try to update you all on the bigger events in our lives...and of course I will include some pictures as well :)

Christmas was wonderful. Nolan, Kevin, and I bought our first real Christmas tree and I enjoyed decorating the house for the holiday season. I LOVE Christmas and this year, even though Nolan had no idea what was going on, Christmas was even more special. Kevin and I bought Nolan a stocking to hang next to ours above the fireplace, and we bought a few ornament making kits and made hand and foot prints for ourselves as well as for the grandmas. It took a little while but we now have some special ornaments to remember Nolan's first Christmas. The Sunday before Christmas brother Jonny flew into Indy and got to have some quality uncle/nephew time in with Nolan on Monday, Tuesday, and half day Wednesday while Kevin and I worked. On Wednesday before Christmas we all piled in the car (it was quite packed with all of our things) and headed up North where we stayed until the Sunday after Christmas. We had a wonderful time with both sides of the family and wish we would have had more time! Our trips always seem to go by so quickly. Besides spending time with our immediate families we also received visits from my friend Anna who has been in Honduras for the past two years (her first time meeting Nolan) and Kevin's friend Nathan from New York (also his first time meeting Nolan). We also spent a morning with some Gingrich family members including Tyson who is 11 days younger than Nolan. It was so fun to see the little guys begin to interact! All in all it was a wonderful Christmas this year with many special memories.

New Years...New Years was spent in our home with some of our dear friends, Matt and Erin, Laura Beth and Charlie, and Kevin's sister Libby. We had a low-key evening of playing the Wii, telling stories, talking about babies (Laura Beth and Charlie are expecting their first baby!! :)), and eating yummy food. It was nice to bring in the new year with close friends and family and to reflect back over everything that has happened over the last year. We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year and we look forward to all that 2010 will bring, especially with all of the firsts we get to experience with Nolan.

Sleep....we aren't getting very much of it!!! When I returned to work when Nolan was 6 weeks old he blessed us with sleeping 7-8 hours every night, only getting up once to eat. However, around the beginning of December when he began to roll from his back to his side we decided to stop swaddling him and ever since Nolan has decided that it isn't as fun to sleep 7-8 hours and seems to prefer 3-4 hour stretches instead!!! We have tried many different things and read many different books, only to become more frustrated. This past Sunday we decided to forget all the books and to try our own thing. We have a nice bed time routine down of bath (between 7 and 7:30), jammies, nursing, sleep (usually around 8 or 8:30). It doesn't usually take much to get Nolan to fall asleep...it's the keeping him asleep part and having him sleep for longer periods that we are struggling with. The first part of this week he started to sleep some longer stretches again of 5-6 hours but then last night returned to waking every 1 1/2 - 3 hours. EXHAUSTING!!! We're not sure what to do besides just push through and hope that one day he will figure out that mommy really does know best and it feels good to sleep 8 hours at one time! :) We notice that he is a much happier baby when he sleeps well at night and when he takes naps during the day. We are working on getting him on more of a napping schedule during the day so we shall see what happens.

Nolan is 4 months!!! Where does the time go?! haha Kevin and I joke that before we know it he is going to be asking for the car keys. He is growing so quickly and we are trying to enjoy every moment of it (even the not sleeping part). He is doing new things almost everyday or at least improving on things that he has already been doing, which is soooo much fun to watch! He has the biggest smiles, a high pitched squeak when he is really happy and excited, a horrible sounding squawk when he is not so happy, a man grunt, he is grabbing for things and putting anything he can hold onto into his mouth, he loves shoving as many fingers as possible into his mouth (often gaging himself), he's trying really hard to sit-up and loves being in his bumbo seat or being held outwards so we can take everything in, he is also enjoying standing on our laps and is starting to get the hang of his jumper seat, overall he is much more interactive and will babble on and on like he is telling you an important story (even at 4 in the morning). Today at the doctor's office he weighed in at 16lbs 12 ounces and was almost 25 inches long (I think that is right). The doctor was very impressed with how he is doing and said that we could start him on baby foods whenever we want to. We had already started experimenting with rice cereal starting just this past week. He did a pretty good job with it and seems to like it. Any suggestions on the best ways to introduce other foods? Our doctor said maybe do veggies first and then fruits? This is all new territory but also very fun and exciting!!! :) (Maybe this will help with his sleeping? I've read both sides...that it can help or that it has nothing to do with the sleep....) Anyway, we are continuing to enjoy our little guy and feel blessed by his presence each day.